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Sunday, January 22, 2017

Great exercise, and beautiful views!

Finished up our two nights at the campground. So yesterday morning we got Louis's tanks emptied and filled his fresh water. Also had showers ourselves. And we're taking off with a brand new fully charged battery. So, we're all happy campers!

Friends Glen and Steve headed off down to Gibraltar, and we headed inland to the mountain town of Casares. We'll meet up with them there on Monday.

But along the way, we had to stop for groceries. With the smaller fridge, we definitely find ourselves stopping more often. But it's all working out. We went to a big Carrefour Superstore. Couldn't find parking there for the motorhome, so had to walk a bit which meant two trips carrying things back. But now we're stocked up for a few days.

Not a long drive to Casares. It's only about 25 kms (15 miles) inland. A this part of the coast, it doesn't take long to get into the mountains!

Beautiful and green!

Scenery along the way.

That's where we're headed...the mountain town of Casares, all in white.

A bit of a bumpy road to get up there, but not bad at all if you take it slow. Totally worth it though...what a gorgeous spot. And, they have a free aire for the motorhomes. Overnight parking is available at the tourist info center just before you get to town. There's water and a grey tank dump available as well.

Free overnight parking at GPS 36.44611, -5.27833

We got ourselves settled and had a late lunch. It was already 2:30pm when we set off on a hike to an overlook. My maps.me program said that it was 3.7 kms each way, so an easy 7.4 kms (4.6 miles) round trip.

The town of Casares. We'll explore there today!

Gorgeous views!

Very steep hike though. Uphill every step of the way for the first hour or so. Great exercise, and beautiful views.

Hike with a view.

Looking back at Casares.

We made it to the overlook and we decided to follow part of a circular route. Hadn't planned on it, but we figured that we could do the circular route and still make it back before dark if we picked up the pace. It would be mostly downhill going around the valley, but it would add another 5 kms (3 miles) to the hike. We decided to go for it.

View from the overlook.

Kevin at the top!

Looking back at where we were.

Scenery along the way.

Back near Casares.

Zoomed in on the town of Casares.

You can paint your house any color you want provided it's white!

Made it back to Louis at 5:30pm. Sunset is at 6:30pm, so we had an hour to spare. We had done just over 12 kms (7.5 miles) in three hours. And considering an hour of that was straight uphill, we did pretty good. What a great workout.

Sunset at 6:30pm.

Today, we will walk into town and wander around. Oh, and the battery works great. Feel like we have power to spare. Even after having lights and computers on, and the furnace to warm things up this morning we're still sitting at 12.5 volts.

Need to find an Orange store or somewhere to top up the SIM card. Our internet is almost expired and I tried to recharge it online but it keeps coming up with a thing saying it an't be completed. Could be that it doesn't like my Canadian credit card, but who knows. Maybe just a glitch in the system.

Have a great Sunday!

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27 comments:

  1. Beautiful area. If you are going to Gibraltar, it is very over priced in spite of it being "tax free" but still great for a day trip.

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    1. It is gorgeous here! We will find some other places like this when you are with us. :-)

      Yes, we will be going to Gibraltar we may even stay there over night for a couple of nights.

      Delete
  2. More wonderful scenery there, looks like you had a great workout too, like the white houses on the hillside.

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    1. Yep, it was a great workout. We need to do more of these hikes and I am sure we will.

      We liked the white houses as well.

      Delete
  3. Interesting about the white houses - is there a legal covenant or something? I kind of like the color anarchy in Mexico, but then if everyone everywhere did things the same way there'd be no point in travelling...

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    1. I am sure that there is. They call towns like this "white villages". We think it makes them very picturesque and love it.

      We love colour too but there is something about these towns that are all white. We did notice that just outside of the town proper the houses have some colour to them but I think the white just makes it perfect in this kind of setting.

      Delete
  4. Why are all the homes white? Very interesting hike and beautiful scenery along the way. Good exercise for both of you you seem to be very fit! Enjoy your day exploring the town. Weather looks much better. Can hardly wait to see Gibraltar pictures! Drive safe!

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    1. I would expect that it is a town ordinance, it is what makes the town so special and a possible tour draw although it is said that the town isn't really on the tour route, probably because it really isn't set up for these big coaches to come through.

      We think we are quite fit and we love doing these hike to stay fit and to get these incredible views because it's the only way to get to them.

      The weather is much, much better now. We're headed to Gibraltar today.

      Delete
  5. The Med is amazing. There are no bad views. A great hike and wonderful pictures.

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    1. In our view, the places that are all built up along the Mediterranean coast aren't so pretty but there are definitely some gorgeous views when you manage to get away from those areas.

      Loved the hike and looking forward to some more good ones.

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  6. Maybe house colour to with repelling heat in summmer

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    1. You could be correct but in this case I believe that it would be a town ordinance. It is these white houses and setting that make the place so spectacular.

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  7. Are those stone fences meant to be stood on?

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  8. Lovely photos. Very interesting hike. Love your blog.

    Can I ask about your internet. We bought a "Internet in a box" in France last year in a Orange shop and topped up when we needed in a Orange shop. Is this what you have? We will be going to Spain in March and hope that we can use it. It's a black box with 2 lights on it. Thanks.

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    1. Thank you Nora! Glad you are enjoying our blog.

      We have a smart phone that is unlocked so we just buy a SIM card for it and put some money on it, then use it as a hotspot. So far it has been working great for us.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Ruth. I'm very green on how I can get a hotspot on my iPad. Will have to ask my son. Seriously moment. Lol

      Delete
  9. Gorgeous photos of the town of Casares! A perfect hike. And yes, Kevin, you are King of the Mountain...lol

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    1. Thanks Paul and Marsha! It was a wonderful hike. :-)

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  10. Out of breath just thinking about all that climbing - LOL! Simply beautiful!!!

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    1. Yep, there was definitely a lot of climbing involved but well worth it.

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  11. That hike looked great! What views. Although I am all about color, there is something so clean and neat about an all-white city.

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    1. The hike was fantastic, it had such great views and was good exercise. Totally agree with you on the all white town looking so clean and neat, especially in that beautiful setting.

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  12. I finally found our elusive yacht
    If you remember a while back I asked you about the name of a Yacht in one of your pictures
    Neither you nor I could find anything about her or her name,, until today,,,
    In the yachting world you can hide for a little while but not forever her name is Maryah
    She's had a very colorful transformation
    You may have to cut and paste but it is very interesting reading

    http://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/news/in-photos-the-extremely-private-superyacht-maryah--26033

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    1. Great research work Mister ed! We will have a better look at the pictures and info when we have some free WiFi. You are one determined guy! ;-)

      Delete
  13. I am sitting reading this post from that very same aire in Casares. A beautiful location and the village itself contains much history. Did you spot the Griffin vultures? There is a colony of them in the area and they appear overhead during the day. On the first day we seen more than 20. Huge graceful birds soaring in the thermals. We are about a month behind on our blog, but I am sure you will see our post in the future on http://goingnomad.co.uk

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    1. We loved that little town and all the hiking that is there as well. Yes, we saw the Griffon vultures. We had some nice up close encounters with them the next day up at the castle.

      When we have some free internet, we'll take a look at your blog. Enjoy your time in Casares.

      Delete

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